Ron Johnson Grills Coast Guard Commandant: When Were You 'Made Aware Of Operation Fouled Anchor?’

2 months ago

Earlier this month, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) questioned Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan on sexual assault oversight during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00I'm gonna turn to Senator Johnson. So Commandant Fagan, when were you first made

00:05aware of Operation Fouled Anchor? I knew of the term Fouled Anchor when I was

00:14originally in the building as a two-star and knew formally of it in the fall of

00:202018 when the Leadership Council was briefed with regard to the ongoing

00:25effort. It was still in the early stages of Fouled Anchor when that when that

00:29brief was provided. So we did get an email from Michael Burkow, the then

00:35Director of the Coast Guard's Investigative Service, really talking to

00:40you about somebody under your command. So my guess is over a five-year

00:45investigation, you're investigating individual members of the Coast Guard,

00:49having to contact their commanding officers. So I would think the knowledge

00:54that there was some an investigation going on, maybe not knowing what it was

00:58called, was fairly well known throughout the service? I do not believe it was

01:05widely known. I'd say I knew the term and then as the Pacific Area Commander, one

01:09of the O5s of a medium endurance cutter under my command, the CSIS Investigative

01:15Services was ready to interview him in conjunction with a Fouled Anchor case

01:19and I became involved to temporarily temporarily relieve him and bring a

01:24relief CO in. I do not know the details of the allegation against the individual.

01:28I was more focused on keeping that ship operationally ready and providing a

01:32relief CO. So that was probably more of an aberration where you had somebody in

01:35command of a ship or something that you had to be concerned about whether you

01:40had continuity command if something had to happen? It was part of the

01:43investigative process. We needed to make him available and then I needed to

01:46ensure that I had a commanding officer with clarity and you know operational

01:51intent and so we brought in a temporary CO as the investigation moved forward

01:56with regard to the individual. But the Coast Guard does have its own

01:59investigatory services, correct? We do. So why is it you're relying on the

02:04Office of the Inspector General? So Coast Guard Investigative Services did the

02:10investigations with regard to Fouled Anchor. When it was announced that this

02:14would be subject to an Office Inspector General, we're now relying on the Office

02:19Inspector General. My CJIS director though regularly interacts with the IG

02:23because I do have an obligation to continue to investigate new reports of

02:28sexual assault and particularly when they involve active duty members and

02:30we've got an excellent deconfliction process in place between the IG and

02:35CJIS so that we can continue to investigate sexual assaults if they're

02:39reported. Have you been interviewed by the Inspector General? I have not. Okay.

02:44But okay but you're again relying on that Inspector General to investigate

02:54I get what the cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor? The IG is looking into

03:00Fouled Anchor, the totality of it including you know senior leader action

03:04or inaction and I'm fully cooperating with that. Okay I have no further

03:09questions. I do know that Senator Hawley was going to show up at 445 so. He's on

03:14his way but while we're waiting I do have some additional questions.

Ron Johnson Grills Coast Guard Commandant: When Were You 'Made Aware Of Operation Fouled Anchor?’

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